Life Changes

Getting married? Having a baby? Leaving your job at Western? Retiring? Life changes can affect your pension, benefits and other aspects of your relationship with Western. Here are some things you should know.

Whether you are retiring or leaving a job at Western before retirement, it will be important to keep Western Human Resources up to date on your current address. We will mail you a T4 for the year in which you finish your work, and we may need to get in touch for others reasons. You may change your address in My Human Resources or complete a Personal Data Form to keep us up to date or where you live.

Please note – if you are an employee who is also a student, you will need to update both the student system and My Human Resources.

If you are changing your address you may make that change online in My Human Resources, or you may complete a Personal Data Form.

If you are changing your name, please download and complete a Personal Data Form and mail or fax it to us at the address on the form. You may also scan and email it to hrhelp@uwo.ca. You will need to attach copies of two pieces of identification to support the change, including one piece of photo identification.

Benefits – you may wish to add your new spouse to your benefits coverage. To do so, please complete the Benefit Application/Change form. Note: when adding/increasing life insurance, a medical questionnaire may be required if more than 31 days have passed since the first day of your eligibility or your spouse/dependent’s eligibility for the insurance. You may wish to contact Human Resource for assistance in understanding your current coverage, and the options available to you. To review your benefits information visit the Your Benefits website and choose your employee group.

If you are changing your name, please download and complete a Personal Data Form and mail or fax it to us at the address on the form. You will need to include copies of two pieces of identification to support the change, including one piece of photo identification.

Benefits – you will be required to remove your spouse from your benefits if they no longer meet the definition of a spouse. See definition of spouse. You may wish to add or increase life insurance coverage and/or change one or more of your beneficiaries. Complete the Benefit Application/Change Form. You may wish to contact Human Resources for assistance in understanding your current coverage, and the options available to you. For further details on each of the benefits below visit the Your Benefits website and choose your employee group.

If they do qualify, read the considerations below under “Getting married?”

Your Pension Plan – you may wish to add your spouse as a beneficiary of your pension plan. Complete the Change of Pension Beneficiary Form. When you are making changes to your pension beneficiary, please note information on the form detailing Pension Benefits Act provisions that require certain portions of your pension entitlement must be paid to the person who is your spouse on the date of death.

If you lose a spouse or dependent child, please contact Human Resources at 519-661-2194 for assistance in filing life or other insurance claims.

If your deceased family member was covered under your Western benefits plan, you may need to make changes to your benefits. The Human Resources Communication Centre in Room 5100 of the Support Services building can assist you with those changes. The changes might include:

Remove coverage for your deceased family member

Increase or decrease life insurance

Change dependents for life insurance or for voluntary accident insurance

Changes to your pension plan may also be needed. Specifically, you may need to designate a new beneficiary.